PM Modi to address 76th UNGA session on September 25 in New York: MEA
PM Narendra Modi is scheduled to address the General Debate of the High-Level Segment of 76th Session of UN General Assembly (UNGA) on September 25 in New York, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed on Tuesday. The 76th session of the UN General Assembly today.
Modi's name was also mentioned in the provisional list of speakers released by the UN, sometime back. The list and schedule are subject to changes and the presence of world leaders in the United Nations headquarters here for the high-level annual session will significantly depend on the global COVID19 situation, particularly as the highly transmissible Delta variant rages in the US as well as across other UN member nations.
According to the first provisional list of speakers for the General Debate at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, Modi is the first leader listed for the day.
Last year, world leaders, including Modi, submitted pre-recorded video statements for the United Nations General Assembly session in September, as heads of state and government could not physically attend the annual gathering due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It was the first time in the UN's 75-year history that the high-level session had gone virtual. This year too, the option has been kept open for the world leaders to send in pre-recorded statements since the pandemic continues to rage across several nations around the world.
The General Debate begins on September 21 and US President Joe Biden is scheduled to address the session in person, his first address to the world organisation as the American leader.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Australian leader Scott Morrison are also listed to address the General Debate in person on September 24.
With leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States expected to attend the General Assembly session in person, it is highly likely that the Quad Leaders’ Summit could take place in September around the UNGA.
The US, India, Australia and Japan had in 2017 given shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the "Quad" or the Quadrilateral coalition to counter China's aggressive actions in the Indo-Pacific region. The first Leaders’ Summit was held in March 2021 virtually.
Senior officials from the four nations met virtually on Thursday as part of regular Quad consultations and “they welcomed the opportunity to continue regular consultations at the ministerial, senior official, and working levels and to hold a second Leaders’ Summit this fall,” the US State Department said Thursday.
The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that the senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs of India, Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade of Australia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and Department of State of the United States “look forward to continuing regular consultations and the next Foreign Ministers’ Meeting later this year.”
So far, 167 Heads of State and Heads of Government and 29 Ministers and diplomats are scheduled to address the UN General Debate that will run through September 27.
About 40 leaders are listed to address the high-level session through pre-recorded statements, including Iran, Egypt, Indonesia, South Africa and Nepal.
Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, had told reporters that holding of the General Assembly every year in the UN is a partnership between the United Nations, the host city, the host government, “because people that come here don’t all come into the building. They’re also in New York City and so on.
“So, our host country, the host city will have whatever regulations they may have in place by September,” he said, adding that there will be an update on health requirements in the UN headquarters regarding vaccination, mask-wearing.
